Throwing the book at Florida vouchers
The grading system does more than grant bragging rights to a few school districts (among them Okaloosa County's, which most recently had the second-highest percentage of A-ranked schools in the state). The prospect of failing, or of just looking bad among better schools, has spurred the worst schools in Florida to work hard at improving their students' test scores.
The results have been palpable. Even education professionals, initially skeptical, have become believers.
A Harvard University study released last spring concluded that Florida's grading system encouraged low-performing schools to improve. Schools that faced the stigma of receiving an F, and whose students eventually could receive vouchers and flee to other schools, really did work harder to boost test scores.
"At these schools," the Harvard study said, "students performed at a higher level in the subsequent year than did students at similar schools not so threatened."
Throwing the book at Florida vouchers
EDITORIAL - NW Florida Daily News
In striking down Florida's voucher program, the state Supreme Court dealt a blow to school choice. We hope it didn't also deliver a knockout punch to school competition.
Under the voucher program, the state grades public schools on their effectiveness and offers vouchers so that students in the worst schools - schools that earn failing grades two years out of four - can attend other schools of their choice, including private schools. The Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on Jan. 5 that the program violates the state constitution's requirement of a uniform system of "free" public schools.
The voucher program is to be shut down at the end of the current school year. Gov. Jeb Bush, who has championed the program, is looking for ways to keep it going.
But voucher foes are looking for more avenues of attack. Separate voucher programs benefit poor and disabled children and aren't directly affected by the Supreme Court's decision. According to The Associated Press, voucher opponents hope to challenge those programs, too.
As the war on vouchers widens, Gov. Bush's broader accountability initiative - the statewide school grading system - could be at risk.
The grading system does more than grant bragging rights to a few school districts (among them Okaloosa County's, which most recently had the second-highest percentage of A-ranked schools in the state). The prospect of failing, or of just looking bad among better schools, has spurred the worst schools in Florida to work hard at improving their students' test scores.
The results have been palpable. Even education professionals, initially skeptical, have become believers.
A Harvard University study released last spring concluded that Florida's grading system encouraged low-performing schools to improve. Schools that faced the stigma of receiving an F, and whose students eventually could receive vouchers and flee to other schools, really did work harder to boost test scores.
"At these schools," the Harvard study said, "students performed at a higher level in the subsequent year than did students at similar schools not so threatened."
Two years earlier, in August 2003, the lead author of a Manhattan Institute study concluded that "vouchers in Florida appear to provide public schools with the incentives to use their resources more efficiently and improve student achievement."
It's simple, really. Florida's voucher system grades public schools, which sets up a competitive arena, which forces schools to improve.
As Gov. Bush said after the Supreme Court's Jan. 5 ruling, the voucher program "put pressure on school districts to focus on the underperforming schools."
Unfortunately, the governor was speaking in the past tense, as if he knew the program was doomed. We hope it isn't. There are always test scores in need of raising, schools in need of improvement, and students in need of help.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 10:56 AM
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